It’s hard to believe that the second quarter of 2017 has started, I’m amazed. The first quarter went fast. Lately I’ve been busy with a long to-do list that sometimes wakes me up around 3AM; I know I’m not alone in this swirling of items to be done invading my sleep, right? I’m grateful that I can now minimize my time awake by : 1. Thanking my mind for the reminder with a smile and/or 2. I write it down on a […]
In my first “real job” at Motorola, I and a coworker had a project to improve the cumbersome process for materials that were rejected for some reason or other and waiting on disposition from one of the Engineers. It was decades ago but I can still see and hear the strain in this little old man who ran this little room (picture a large walk-in closet with a half gated door with a hunched over little man who liked […]
In the workshop I give on negotiations, one of the topics I teach about is the power of understanding the other person’s (or other business’s) interests versus their position. What interest is driving them to take the position that they are taking? Many times their interest is driven by a basic human need. Next time you struggle to understand: “Why won’t they agree or even consider my perspective?” One of these needs may be at play: security, economic well […]
One of the areas that I talk about in my coaching and negotiations workshops is the power of language and how switching a few words in your communications or thoughts can have a big impact on thriving. Here are some of my favorites: Instead of saying, “I don’t care” say, “I am not attached (to that opinion, that idea, etc…)” Shift your thinking from, “I have to….” to “I get to….” Rather than say, “You should do….” say, “What […]
Your ability to be likable can make a big difference in your thriving at work and at home. And this does not mean you are that guy that has no guts to say anything, goes along with whatever you say and then is passive aggressive later (you know he is more slippery than likable). I came across this article, “6 Habits of Remarkable Likable People” on INC’s web site and loved Jeff Haden’s points, especially about how to ask […]
In my prior “Hearts and Minds” post I explained the importance of understanding the emotional motivations for change along with the logical. In John Haidt’s book,” The Happiness Hypothesis” and he uses the great metaphor of an elephant for our emotional mind and the rider as the logical mind. Chip and Dan Heath borrowed this metaphor from Haidt (with his permission) for their great book, “Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard.” I am referring to these resources […]
This is a special post to let you know that I’ll be giving a speech, “Growing Your Sales: Revealing the Secrets of the Big Corporate Buyer” on April 20, 2011 (next week)! One of my small “secrets” is to really do your homework on the business you are selling in to. “Well, duh, that is no secret!” you may be thinking. But sad to say, in my corporate buying experience I built up a level of disdain toward salespeople […]
“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” – Einstein I often coach my business clients about implementing key metrics and measures of their key indicators. It has been my experience that you get what you measure, this week I was reminded to look at this a little differently. A friend sent me an e-mail with a portion of a TED talk, “Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile” by Chip Conley. I love […]
You need to know your current location first in order for your internal GPS to work. This is the first step in my coaching model. In a series of four posts I’ll write about each step in the model: Where are you now? Current location – Today’s post What are your irresistible destinations? – Next week How do you overcome obstacles – January week1 Celebrating progress and success – January week2 There are several steps I go through with […]
“If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it around. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don’t say embrace trouble; that’s as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and you had better be on speaking terms with it.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Note that he states not to embrace trouble, like you really want it. Or […]
